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10.1 File

 

Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 29, Number 3—Summer 2015—Pages 99–120

Law, Regulation, and the Business Climate: The Nature and Influence of the World Bank Doing Business Project†

Timothy Besley

The importance of a well-functioning legal and regulatory system in creating an effective market economy is now widely accepted. After all, a poor contracting and regulatory environment can raise the cost of doing busi-ness with knock-on effects to employment, output, investment, productivity, and living standards. But how to measure or even to conceptualize differences in the business climate is far from settled. Should the focus be on a few specific indicators or many? Can whatever indicators are chosen be usefully compared across time and countries? Can such data be updated in a timely way as policy reforms occur? One flagship project that tries to measure the environment in which businesses operate in countries across the world is the World Bank’s Doing Business project, which was launched in 2002. At its core, this project gathers quantitative data to compare regulations faced by small and medium-size enterprises across economies and over time. The centerpiece of the project is the annual Doing Business report. It was first published in 2003 with five sets of indicators for 133 economies, and currently includes 11 sets of indicators for 189 economies. The report includes a table that ranks each country in the world according to its scores across the indicators. The Doing Business project has become a major resource for academics, jour-nalists, and policymakers. The project also enjoys a high public profile with close to ten million hits on its website each year, making it one of the most prominent knowl-edge products produced by the World Bank. When Narendra Modi was elected Prime Minister of India, he explicitly targeted achieving 50th place in the ranking as

? Timothy Besley is School Professor of Economics and Political Science, London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom and W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics. His email address is t.besley@lse.ac.uk. † To access the Appendix, Data Appendix, and disclosure statement, visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/jep.29.3.99 doi=10.1257/jep.29.3.99

POLI 230 Activity 10.1 

10.1 For a given year of your selection (which you need to specify) and using at least four (4) of the indexes noted above, describe and compare and contrast the ranking of the USA concerning business climate and/or regulatory burden. After comparing the rankings explain what  you learned from this activity in a few paragarphs at the  END of  your response. Please note, this activity is about the USA as an entire country and not about individual states of the US. Be sure to provide your sources of information in MLA format at the END of your response.

 

10.2

   The Impact of Regulatory Costs on Small Firms

by

Nicole V. Crain and W. Mark Crain Lafayette College Easton, PA

for

 

under contract number SBAHQ-08-M-0466

Release Date: September 2010

This report was developed under a contract with the Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, and contains information and analysis that was reviewed and edited by officials of the Office of Advocacy. However, the final conclusions of the report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Advocacy.

 

T POLI 230 Activity 10.2

10.2 Selected any two of the measures/indexes noted above and determine whether the US government's impact on business and/or the US economy has increased or decreased over the last 10 (or more) years. Please notice, this activity is about the government's actions & policies. Therefore you should be looking at measures of government activities and then compare that action/policies to some measure(s) of the economy. During previous semesters some students wrongly look only at GDP/cap by itself as a response to this activity. Don't do that. Instead, find data about the US government's activities over several years and compare that information to data about the US economy during those same years.

of government activities and then compare that action/policies to some measure(s) of the economy. During previous semesters some students wrongly look only at GDP/cap by itself as a response to this activity. Don't do that. Instead, find data about the US government's activities over several years and compare that information to data about the US economy during those same years. The answer to this activity is thus a comparison of two types of information. Some indexes, if they exist, may/could do that comparison within one measure. In your response, include data (chart or table), a written explanation (in full sentences) of your findings, and all your sources in MLA format. 1 POLI 230 Activity 10.3 

10.3 Using indexes (above or others you can find), locate any info about business climate or the effect of business regulations on the state of New Jersey. Summarize that information and provide all you sources in your response. As much as possible including charts and/or tables, which you develop in your response. Please note, this activity is exclusively about New Jersey (though you can do some very brief comparisons to other states). Do not copy/provide charts you've simply copied from any other source(s). At the end of your response provide your sources in MLA format.

Data Sources

a) 2018 State Business Tax Climate Index [https://files.taxfoundation.org/201710161 71625/SBTCI 2018.pdf]

b) NJBIA, Public Policy Forum & Business Outlook Survey

c) Economic Freedom of the World Index — North America Report (Fraser Institute, Canada) {includes some rankings of NJ]

d) Doing Business Measuring Business Regulation (The World Bank) pp 1-5.

e) The Global Competitiveness Report (World Economic Forum)

http : //rep orts .weforum. org/gl ob al-competitiveness-report-2018/ [Select US economy]

el:0110111M

0 Freedom House, World Survey of Economic Freedom - [NOTE data only to 1996]

g) GW Regulatory Studies Center's Statistics: https://regulatorystudies.columbian.gwu.edu/reg-stats

h) QuantGov; https://quantgov.org/state-regdata/ [NOTE: includes state level data but not for NJ]

i) Cato Institute, Freedom in the 50 States

https://www.freedominthe5Ostates.org/eco nomic/new-jersey

https://www.quantgov.org/state-regdata/

 

 

https://www.freedominthe50states.org/economic/new-jersey